A Few Stops Before Going Home Poem by Donal Mahoney

There are too many nuts with guns,
Willie tells Millie at Starbucks,
as they sip their lattes.
What can be done?
Congress will never
agree to a solution.

Willie and Millie admit
they don't know
what can be done
to stop the massacres
in America.

Willie, a city boy, doesn't hunt
except for good restaurants
but he's not opposed to hunters
as long as they eat what they kill.
Shooting an animal for a trophy
over the mantel makes no
sense to Willie or Millie.
No sport in that.

But two nights ago two guys
broke into Ralph's house
down the street
and he shot them dead
with a pistol he bought
and had never used.
His wife didn't know
he had a gun in the house.

So now Willie and Millie
sip their lattes and revisit
the idea of buying a pistol
and taking lessons in how
to shoot the damn thing.
Not welcome at their age.

Willie says no pistol yet
but tells Millie it's time
to buy a Wolfhound.
Millie says no pistol
but wants a Mastiff instead.
Then both of them agree
bullets kill dogs as well.

They head out to the car
to make a few stops
before going home.
What stops they'll make
they haven't decided
but they both realize
something has to be done.